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A little-known Austrian artist died in a car crash on this day in 1998. Johann Holzel’s death didn’t make headlines in the United States, but in German-speaking countries, he was a star. He was briefly here, too, years earlier, under the name Falco.
Remember that catchy tune “Rock Me Amadeus“? Falco’s song extolling composer Mozart as a rebel of his time reached No. 1 here and worldwide in 1986. (Falco’s similarly interesting “Der Komissar” failed to catch on quite the same way, in 1982.) And here’s the fun thing: The success of “Rock Me Amadeus” made Falco the first with a No. 1 hit by a rap artist. Says history.com: “Yes, that’s right — it wasn’t Doug E. Fresh or Kool Moe Dee or Kurtis Blow or Run-D.M.C. but an Austrian in a powdered wig who first brought hip hop—of a sort—to the top of the pops.”